A Collection of Skeletal Writings

November 6, 2018March 14, 2018

everything you see at this moment in time is made of iron and saltwater

by Natalie Kwan

Photo by Natalie Kwan

everything you see at this moment in time is made of iron and saltwater,
trapped in a small infinity of black and a whirlwind of magnificent colour—of blue or brown or green or grey!
oh, the things you will see with those silly green eyes!
how they laugh when you smile and dance when you sing,
and sting when you weep and bark when you shout.
oh, the tears you will cry with those pretty brown eyes
as tiny drops of saline run off filling oceans in your collarbones.

everything you touch is made of flesh and bones,
fixed in place like the characters of a Shakespearean tragedy
because sometimes they shake among the cold stage and sometimes they break under tremendous pressure.
and the flesh that encloses you,
the flesh on your hands that can say so much wrong and do so much worse
and can act like muted strums of a tactical guitarist,
can behave like a million lovers and love like a thousand years.
your flesh and bones speak in ways of musical instruments and 16th century theatre
you are iron and saltwater
mixed within a spectacular machine of sorts, creating a beat that lasts a thousand miles.

Natalie Kwan is an aspiring poet from Unionville, Ontario who is currently working towards a Bachelor of Arts at Queen’s University. Her style of writing is heavily influenced by that of poet E. E. Cummings. In her spare time, Natalie enjoys reading, writing, and figure skating.